Marinello, 73, is serving a life prison sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

Liz Marinello, 45, was seeking to end their brief marriage when she was shot twice in the face behind a Metairie Road office building on Aug. 31, 2006. Marinello denied any involvement and said he was driving to Byram, Miss., when she was shot.

In his appeal, Marinello claimed prosecutors had only circumstantial evidence and cheated to win a conviction. He asked for a new trial and his immediate release from prison.

That appeals court handled the case because Judge Conn Regan of the 24th Judicial District Court moved the trial to Lafayette in finding that pretrial publicity left Marinello unable to get a fair and impartial jury in Jefferson Parish. A Lafayette Parish jury unanimously convicted him in December 2008.